Series 9 Owners: Third party mSATA upgrades

I'm temporarily putting this up as a temporary sticky rather than spam several Series 9 threads.

The MyDigital BP3 256GB SSD (reviewed here) is available in the UK! So for all those UK Series 9 owners who are having to put up with the lethargic and low capacity Sandisk U100 you can now consider getting something better.

It's available here and here. I've just ordered one for my X3B.

If you want to clone your existing SSD then also get one of these which you can slot into an external USB enclosure.

****Edit: 24 Jun: The Crucial M4 256GB mSATA has also surfaced here and here. It's less expensive. ****

For a detailed comparison of how the m4 compares with the Sandisk U100 see my review of the m4 and see here for it's impact on the performance of of my NP900X4C.

**** Edit 25 Dec: I found that there is a firmware upgrade for the BP3. My experience with it is described here. ****

John

 

This isn't just for the UK. They are also available on the amazon.com USA site.

See another review at http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews...-performance-unmatched-capacity-killer-price/.

See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008AI1XCS

 

Thanks for the other links but note that the SSDreview review is for a different MyDigital SSD . I had flagged this up for UK people because (a) this is the first 256GB mSATA of any brand to become available here and (b) we don't yet have the option of buying an S9 with 256GB built-in.

John

 

MyDigitalSSD 256GB mSATA III SSD- MDMS-BP3-256 $259.99 AC - Slickdeals.net

$20 Coupon!!!

 

I've updated the thread title and the original post because the Crucial 256GB mSATA has also appeared. It's definitely time to relegate the 128GB Sandisk U100 to backup status.

John

 

Thanks, as ever, John - have just ordered the Crucial from Ballicom for £160 inc postage.

Happy Days!

 

I really wish they wouldn't use one of the worst SSDs to put in a high end machine. This kind of upgrade adds even high cost to to a machine that already cost a lot based on the hardware it has. Had they used the original Samsung SSD, it would make my choice between the Samsung S9 vs Asus UX31A so much easier.

It's listed, but I don't see it available to buy anywhere on US amazon, not even a 3rd party seller on amazon.

 

See Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 256GB Smart Series SATA III (6G) SandForce mSATA SSD - MDMS-SFIII-256: Computers & Accessories

It's currently sold out.

The Bullet Proof version was listed at http://www.amazon.com/256GB-MyDigit...1340686114&sr=8-7&keywords=mydigitalssd+msata

Looks like amazon.com sold their supply and it now pointing at other sellers. I'm sure it will be back. It was the more affordable of the two.

 

is the hard drive not soldered to the motherboard?

 

The Series 9 B and C models Probably, but I'm not 100% sure, also the A) use 50mm mSATA SSDs so they plug into a slot and are relatively easily upgradeable.

John

 

Does anybody know, if I loose warranty when I change the SSD myself. Are there any seals on the screws or whatever, which could indicate, that the SDD has been changed?

 

There are no seals anywhere on the Series 9. Just make sure that you have exactly the right size of screwdriver before you try to unscrew the base - it's easy to strip those small screw heads. Note also that there are some plastic clips along the back edge between the hinges which you have to prise apart carefully. Then keep the original SSD so you can reinstall it in the event of needing service.

John

 

Here's my procedure for opening my NP900X3C and replacing the SSD

- opened all screw's located at the bottom of the laptop
- lift the bottom cover by inserting my finger where the SD card goes you'll need very little force to do that!
- and the mSATA SSD is covered partly by bridge like connector (that connects the center mainboard to the right section) , you can lift the the end that says "SUB" to easily remove/insert the SSD ...


Oh and I used a Phillips no "0" screw driver to do the Jop!!

 

How does the Crucial M4 mSATA 256 GB stack up against the MyDigital Bullet Proof? Is it in that same league? What about the higher performance MyDigital Smart series? Is it worth the $50-70 difference? I'm looking for highest performance possible, but wondering if the Smart series is overkill?

 

I would vote for the m4 over the BP3. Compare the CrystalDiskMark result below (taken in my NP900X4C) with the BP3 result here.



The m4 seems to offer more performance for, in my case, less cost than the BP3. It seems to be similar to the 2.5" m4, with the firmware being 000F (the latest for the bigger m4) so hopefully not too many bugs.

John

 

So I don't know anything about SSD performance, but I just know that the my new X3C drags when dealing with lots of read/write ... especially compared to my old Sony Z1. Is it safe to assume a new M4 will be much better in that area? Is the slow 512k and 4k performance of the U100 to blame?

Her are my current U100 results

 

The problem I noticed with my U100 was the computer freezing for 10 seconds or so when I opened another program which triggered Windows into dumping RAM to the swap file while trying to load another program. I think the U100 struggles when there is a queue of disc I/O.

John

 

What about Samsung 830 Series MZ-7PC256N from Insight? will this do for samsung 900x3c?

Also, can someone please share detail instruction of how to upgrade the SSD on 900x3c? Pictures / video would be really helpful.

Thank you

 

If you mean this then it's a 2.5" SSD. You need a 50mm mSATA SSD.
[/QUOTE]

John

 

Can you please advice which Samsung SSD that is compatible for 900x3c.

I just checked today; amazon already accept pre-order for 900x3c!

 

When they launched their mSATA SSD Samsung said that they would not be releasing it into the retail chain so you need to look at other brands. In order of performance the available 256GB mSATA SSDs are:
(i) MyDigitalSSD SMART (rebadged A-data)
(ii) Crucial m4
(iii) MyDigitalSSD BP3

The Crucial m4 probably gives best value for money.

John

 

Fastest:

MKNSSDAT120GB-DX - Mushkin Enhanced

Solid State Drive, SSD, Military, Aerospace, Marine, Industrial, Embedded, Enterprise

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=T....,cf.osb&fp=1deb3a27a4d9b1ab&biw=1138&bih=533

XPG SX300 SATA 6Gb/s mSATA Solid State Drive, Description, SX300, XPG, Solid State Drive, Welcome to ADATA

mSATA SSD | Super Talent Technology - SSD | Solid State Drives

 

I just purchased the Crucial CT256M4SSD3

It seems like there aren't many US retailers who have this thing in stock. I found it at CDW for $234.

CRUCIAL 256GB SATA 6GB/S SSD - CT256M4SSD3 - Solid State Drives - CDW.com

 

Not the fastest one..

Read: 500MB/s
Write: 260MB/s

 

Crucial is one of the most reliable, and the price is good. I'd get one for sure if I ever decide on getting a SS9 or X230.

 

To be honest, the MyDigital BP3 and Crucial M4 were the only two 200+ GB mSATAs I could find in stock in the US. I'll give it a shot. If I'm not happy with it, I'll just return or sell it. If it works as good as the M4 2.5" SSD I have in my desktop at home, I'll be happy.

 

You will find it even has the same firmware as the bigger M4. I'm very happy with my m4.

John

 

Just FYI. That is the bigger M4 !!!
That is the regular SATA drive for 2.5" enclosure.
It is NOT an mSATA which is compatible with the Series 9.
I don't see anything in the item description about mSATA, and the
Crucial part number refers to regular SATA 6.0
If you wanted a drive for a Series 9 you may want to cancel your order
or refuse delivery.

 

I think he will be fine - my Crucial mSATA has the part number CT256M4SSD3.

SSD3 at the end of the part number indicates mSATA. SSD1 indicates the 7mm thick 2.5" m4 and SSD2 indicates the the 9.5mm thick m4.

John

 

Didn't know that.
Thanks!

 

Neither did I until I googled for the different numbers.

John

 

OK!! Just Upgraded My NP900X3C with "MyDigitalSSD Smart series 256gb mSATA" today..
here's How i did it:
- Used macrium reflect (a free software) to clone my old SanDisk to the new drive
- the new drive was connected with a an msata to sata adapter which was connected to my SS9 through USB (used an old mobile 2.5" sata case)
- after cloning, I installed the new drive and booted to windows
- I used "Acronis disk Director" (Not free!) to simply delete the recovery and the intel created rapid boot partitions (I think??) and reclaimed the space from both prtitions plus the unallocated space that was left from cloning
* UPDATE* 6 July
- I had to delete both as Disk director wouldn't let me reclaim the Unallocated space unless i did so!!
*I did not try it, but you might try to skip copying the partitions with Macrium Reflect, this might make it easier to reclaim the unallocated space*
- in order to get Intel Rapid start partition again, I simply switched off from Samsung "easy settings" rebooted and switched it on again! doing that initiated the creation process .

 

My comparison of the Crucial m4 with the Sandisk U100 is now posted here.

Enjoy.

John

 

Thanks for the review, John. In the review, you compared the M4 to the stock sandisk U100, and the crucial just blows the u100 out of the water. However, do you have any idea how this crucial M4 compares to a Samsung PM830 that came with the older Sandy bridge NP900X3/4B? Anyone know where it's available to buy right now? Quick searches only shows reviews and not actually stores to buy from.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...e/645523-samsung-pm830-msata-retail-date.html

Eu only.

 

There's a review of the Samsung 830 mSATA here. There's not a lot of difference between it and the m4.

I recall that Samsung are not planning to release their mSATA to the retail chain. They are selling all their production direct to notebook manufacturers including Apple.

John

 

There would seem to be a good bit of difference between the M4 and this drive, which is the fast A-DATA mSATA:
MyDigitalSSD 256GB SandForce SATA III Smart Series mSATA SSD | My Digital Discount

It has quite a bit faster 4K speed I think.

 

Yes, that seems to be the class-leading mSATA at the moment. However, I have a few residual worries about whether the Sandforce controller given past problems (and it's not available in UK).

John

 

I installed my 256GB M4 last night. Its amazing how small these mSATA drives are! I immediately noticed the performance improvement. No more choking.

A couple of newb questions:
1) Using Windows 7, I saved an image of my old 128 GB drive before replacing with the 256 GB. Then I installed the new drive, and used Windows Recovery to load the old image. Everything worked fine except that the image was obviously from the 128GB and I now have 120 GB of unallocated space. I would normally just expand the System Partition, but the Hibernation and Recovery Partitions follow the System, therefore I am unable to expand System. Is there any way to recover that space (other than deleting Recovery and Hibernation partitions) without creating a separate volume?

2) Do I really need the Recovery Partition? As long as I have a good base image (after I fix my partition issues), I can just recover from that using Windows Recovery USB drive, correct?

3) I'm assuming I can delete my Hibernation Partition and recreate it using John's awesome IRST guide thread, right?


EDIT: I just noticed dart22's post where he describes his steps. This is probably what I need to do, I'm still wondering if there is any good reason to save the Recovery and/or Hibernation partitions.

 

If you have used Samsung Recovery Solution to make a backup of the drivers / software then you can delete the recovery partition in the knowledge of (i) you have that backup and (ii) you still have the original SSD which you can put back in if necessary.

It should be possible to uninstall the Intel Rapid Start, delete the IRST partition, expand the existing partition and then reinstall IRST. However, it may not be straightforward. An alternative is to create a new partition in the empty space (ex-recovery partition (already empty space) and let that be your D drive where you keep all your user files.

John

 

Post updated above ^^

 

Thanks dart and John. I pretty much did the same thing as dart. Deleted both the recovery and hibernation partitions, expanded Windows partition, then switched my Rapid Start back on through easy settings.

I did encounter one strange problem with Easy Setting recreating the hibernation partition. On the first attempt, it created an empty, unallocated 4 GB. I then switched Intel Rapid Start back to "off", deleted the unallocated 4GB and switched it back to "On" all without rebooting. It went through the partition creation again and this time it worked.

 

Any recommendation for a good USB 3.0 Caddy that takes the adapter and the original sandisk ssd in a robust portable package ?

 

My favourite is this one because it is easy to swap drives. Usually it contains one of my several 2.5" HDDs.

John

 

Can't seem to find it, or anything like it available in the USA.

 

Thanks John, thats me all sorted with a Caddy and Adapter, just nned to wait for the Crucial SSD's to come back into stock, looks like everyone else beat me to them

 

Not for lack of trying, I'm don't quite understand if NCIX has what I need if I wanted to upgrade the SSD in an NP900X3C. The only msata I could find is a 64GB, or am I missing some with different labels? I'm looking for 256GB+.

Buy Solid State Drives SSD, Buy Computer Hard Drives, Computer Hardware

 

I always found NCIX and amazon hard to navigate to narrow down searches. I usually go to newegg to help narrow down exactly when I'm looking for, then copy/paste the manufacturer's model number into other site searches if I'm going to buy it from somewhere else.

 

I have a newb question, if I were to have some big programs(adobe,etc) downloaded and then I make a cloned copy say in my external hard drive. And when I replace the ssd with a crucialm4 or mydigitalssd ssd, will all those programs work on the new ssd?

 

These products are hard to find at the moment. The three that are currently around in the 256GB size are, in order of performance, the MyDigitalSSD BP3, Crucial CT256M4SSD3 and MyDigitalSSD SMART. The Crucial is in stock at Insight but you can find it elsewhere by searching for "CT256M4SSD3".

This depends on how the program checks which computer it is on. In my experience most will work OK on a cloned disk but sometimes a problem arises if you then want to transfer the licence whereupon the program says it won't cooperate because the hardware doesn't match what it was originally installed on.

John